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Date: June 12th,
2008
Dan's Notes:
With the water as warm as it is (84o),
fish are going deep after the bait. In the bay it may take a lttle
work but limits can be gotten.
Fishing around Black island and Pig
island are producing, but slow.
Get ready for scallop season (July 1st -
Sept. 10th).
Cobia are being reported in the bay,
Follow the turtles & Rays.
Limits (Such as they are) on Red Snapper
are being caught with little work. Going deep on days of good weather producing good
results.
With the new regs on Snapper &
Grouper, it can get a little confusing. Please check out the fwc
web.
New rules & regs. www.myfwc.com or call 1-888-347-4356 or
1-888-486-8356. To report fish or wildlife law violations call
1-888-404-FWCC (3922).
WE HAVE SOME GOOD NEWS!!!!!! A new
boat in the area! "FISH'N XPRESS" of Port St. Joe. A 49 passenger
Party Boat. Check out the web, www.tightlinesgoodtimes.com
Water temp. 80o -
84o
Red Snapper season (State
waters, closed Nov 1st - Apr 14th) (New Fed waters,
9 miles out, open June 1, 2009 - closed Oct 1, 2009).
Live shrimp and bull minnows (when
available) at Bluewater ( www.bluewateroutriggers.com phone (850)
229 1100) and Half Hitch Tackle ( www.halfhitch.com phone (850)
227 7100) ($3 a doz.)
See you on the water.
The Old Farmer's Almanac Weather
Forcast
June
Temp. 79o (1o above avg.).; precp. 6" (1" above avg.).
1-9 Sunny, then t-storms, hot. 10-19 T-storms, cool. 20-25 Scattered
t-storms. 26-31 Sunny, warm.
July
Temp. 81o; Precip 6" (1" above avg.). 1-5 T-storms,
then sunny, cool. 6-13 T-storm, then sunny, very warm. 14-25
Scattered t-torms, seasonable. 26-31 Sunny, hot.
SPOTTED SEATROUT
(Cynoscion nebulosus) - Closed season in February, 15" minimun size
to 20" maximum. Bag limit is 5 one over 20".
-
Description: Streamlined shape; large mouth with promeinent
canine teeth; color gray or silvery with many prominent black
spots on sides. Background may be quite dark, or gold, when
fish are in back bays or streams.
- Size: Usually
1-2 pounds; common on both coasts to about four pounds.
Largest fish, both in average size and miximum size, come from
East-Central region, where fish to 10 pounds are taken at times
and where potential is to 15 pounds or more. Gulf Coast
trout are considered large at 5-8 pounds, but can top 10.
World and Florida records 17 pounds, 7 ounces.
- Food
value: A table favorite.
- Game
Qualities: Not exceedingly strong or active but a hard
striker on a vriety of baits and quite sporty on light gear.
Showy, surface-thrashing fighter but not a long runner.
Sometimes jumps.
- Tackle and
baits: Spinning, baitcasting and fly tackle are all
effective and sporting. Best natural baits are live shrimp,
live baitfish and strips of cut Millet or Pinfish. Most
popular lures are bait-tail jugs, swimming plugs and topwater
plugs. Poppers are productive flyrod lures ove the flats;
large streamers work in all waters.
- Fishing
systems: Drifting; Still Fishing; casting.
- Information
from "Sport Fish of Florida" by Vic Dunaway
FLOUNDER
21 1/2" At the "T"
of the canal.
KING MACKEREL
(Scomberomorus cavalla) - No closed
season, 24" minimun size (measure from tip of nose to fork of
tail), no maximun size limit, bag limit 2.
-
Description: Adults are heavy bodied, with large mouth and
razor teeth. Elongated body is geenish above but mostly
silvery and unmarked, except in juveniles, which have
spots.
- Size:
School fish may run from 4 to around 20 pounds; individuals to 50
pounds, or slightly more, are not rare. Potential is from 75
to possibly 100 pounds. Florida and world records 90
pounds.
- Food
value: Depends on taste of the individual. Flesh is
rich and oily. Fine broiled or smoked. (I find that
cutting the dark flesh from the center of the filet takes the oily
taste out).
- Game
qualities: Kings are about as fast as Wahoo, although they
seldom get that acknowledgment. Regardless, they are strong
and sizzling fighters at any size.
- Tackle and
baits: Trollers generally choose ocean outfits with lines
testing from 20-40 pounds, but kings of all sizes can be caught on
spinning, baitcasting and even fly tackle. Spoons trolled
behind planers are good, as are rigged Cigar Minnows and
feather-minnow combinations. Fishing with Pilchards as both
chum and live bait could be the most productive system of all, but
drifting with rigged baits, strips of live baits, including live
shrimp, is effective too. For casters, spoons and nylon figs
ususally work best. Fly rodders do well with shiny flies on
sinking lines.
- Fishing
systems: Drifting, trolling, still fishing.
-
Habitat: From the edge of blue water all the way to the
beaches. Runs of schooling fish occur in spring and
fall, with action possible throughout the summer. The runs
take place, usually, in water from 20 to 100 feet deep. The
very biggest fish, however, are often hooked very close in and are
referred to as "Beachcombers".
- Information
from "Sport Fish of Florida" by Vic Dunaway
A day at the bouy line
Pinch for legal -
As of July 1st you can pinch the tail to get an additional
1/4". This way of measuring is good if you have a too-small
snapper or grouper because a 15 3/4" snapper becomes a 16" and legal
snapper. Fish with forked tails are measured the same way as
before, from the tip of the nose to the fork. Be careful about
sloted size limits (27" redfish will become illegal when
pinched)
Tip on using chum -
Attach your chum bag to the top of the anchor chain to
draw fish under the boat, Use 10 lb test so something big
doesn't take your anchor.
SCALLOPS - The scallop
season extends from July 1st to September 10th and you must have a
Florida saltwater fishing license to harvest scallops. The
scallop limits are 2 gallons unshucked per person or 1 pint shucked
per person, 10 gallons maximum unshucked per boat or 1/2
gallon maximum shucked per boat. Scallops can only be
harvested by hand or with the use of a landing or dip net in order
to prevent damage to seagrasses.
Tip on ling, Don't throw that 6" sailcat
back, clip the dorsel, hook (#4) the bottom lip, fling it
out and wait for a hit.
My first Cobia, 41" / 25lbs. Got
him on a cigar minnow 17 miles out.
Unfortunately fish seem to
go on vacation the same time we do.
RELEASE UNDERSIZE/UNWANTED FISH -
Handle gently with a wet hand or wet cloth, grasping the fish near
the tail. Always avoid damaging the gill area. If hooked
in the forward part of the mouth remove hook as gently as
possible. A hook disgorger is useful here.. If hooked
deeply or in the throat, cut the leader. The hook will be
disgorged or dissolved. The object is to return the fish to
water with as little injury as possible and as soon as
possible. The fish then has an excellent chance of
survival. (Half Hitch tide chart)
BEST TIME TO FISH - Early evening
about 1 hour before sunset and right until around midnight.
Incoming Tide is the best. Early morning before dawn and until
about an hour before daybreak, again providing the tide is an
incoming one. (Half Hitch tide chart)
(HOWEVER) there is always the exception to the
rule. We have spots, when the tide is going out and taking
bait, the fish will follow. (Be the fish)
BAROMETER MEANINGS - Rising Barometer:
Fishing is Best. Rapidly fluctuating either
way: Indication of good fishing. Static
Barometer: Fishing is poor. Falling
Barometer: First part of fall is good. After fall
continues for several hours, the more it goes down the poorer the
fishing. If unusually low: No fishing at
all. (Half Hitch tide chart)
Check out the Port St
Joe Marina for thier fishing report at www.PSJmarina.com
For guide service, we can
recommend:
- Captain Bill Little at FISH'N XPRESS
49 passenger Party Boat. (850) 227-8200 www.tightlinesgoodtimes.com
- Captain Jeff Lassiter at Topdeck
Charters (Offshore & Inshore). (850)639-3507
- Captain Gary Goodrich at Gulf Coast
Fishing & Boating. 850-BAY FISH (850)229-3474 www.fishingportstjoe.com
- Captain Trey Landry at Premier
Sportfishing Adventures. Fly & light tackle.
(850)227-9720 www.captaintrey.com
- Robinson Brothers Guide Service,
Apalachicola, (850)653-8896 www.floridaredfish.com
- Captain Kenny Lemieux at Dog House
Charters. (850)227-7281/(850)229-6224
- Captain Gary
White, (850)229-1954, cell (850)774-2618
- Captain Danny Tankersley on Lady J.
(850)227-1200
- Captain David Rich on Illustrious, www.Illustriouscharters.com
captaindavidrich@aol.com
- Captain J. W. Erwin at Tale Chaser
Charters, (850)227-7046, www.talechasercharter.com
gulfman@gtcom.net
- Captain Terrell Adams at Fish Tales
Charters (850)596-2158
- Captain Blair Morgan at Bluewater
Bandit Charters, (850)229-1760
- Seahorse Water Safaris -
will rent you a boat or set you up on a charter trip (850)227-1099
www.seahorsewatersafaris.com
Tackle & Marine
Store
Bluewater Outriggers Tackle &
Marine Store 850-229-1100 Bluewater@gtcom.net
Half Hitch Tackle (850) 227-7100
www.halfhitch.com
For scuba enthusiasts go to our
premier dive site about the historic Vamar: www.marinearchaeology.org
Weather Link: www.WMBB.com
This is the TV station out of Panama City.
Also www.whitecityweather.com
For your convenience, we have a
free boat cleaning station and behind the motel you'll find a state
of the art fish cleaning station. There was a chest freezer out
there for you to store your catch but it became storm damage,
we now have a frig/freezer. Bagged ice is now
available for coolers.
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